Living without a fridge

Reverbe

Yay we have a fridge:j:j

Flatmate came home with one from Argos....

NAY we don't have a fridge.. !!!!!! the thing is so small you can hardly fit a single pint of milk in.. what IS the point? we need one for the spread and the odd bit of cheese. If you took the shelf out you might MIGHT be able to fit a small can of pop in there:rotfl::rotfl:

Which raises the question what are they for? a small bar of chocolate??

Men cant do anything can they??:mad:

Agapanthus

hummingbird wrote: »

By the way, I'd remembered about putting my milk in a bowl of cold water and it works! Fortunately the water runs out very cold from the tap, so it does for overnight even.

The cooling effect of the water doesn't rely on it being extremely cold when it comes out of the tap - though obviously that helps. It's putting a teatowel or cloth over it and letting the water evaporate away that really cools things down.

When travelling I have been known to do this with a small can of milk in a hotel bedroom handbasin overnight, using my face flannel! It really works.

I can remember my Mum, in the early fifties, having a couple of unglazed earthenware coolers. She stood the milk bottle in a bowl of water, then put the cooler over it so it soaked up the water. As the water evaporated, the milk was cooled. I think she had a smaller one for butter.

Eggs are better not kept in a fridge anyway. Below 12 degrees is recommended, but that's way above fridge temperature. I've never figured out why so many fridges have egg racks in them - I always throw them away.

Pickles don't need to be in the fridge as the vinegar is a preservative. Jam may occasionally grow a little mould on the top if it hasn't been made with enough sugar (which is also a preservative). If you find any mould on jam, scrape it off and add a few drops of whisky or brandy. That'll kill the mould and stop it from re-growing. That's what our grandmothers did - and we're living proof that it works!

Broomstick

We used to stay in Travelodges and Premiere Inns for sports competitions. Sadly, this is very rare nowadays 'cos of cost.

[We now set off stupidly early and the DSs sleep on the way. We take proper pillows, duvets etc and when we arrive I make myself a 'tent' and sleep in the car through the morning bit of the competition to catch up then join the DSs for the afternoon, then drive home. We can only do this now that they are older and don't need/want me around for the competition bit.... ]

Anyway, I digress. When we stayed at Travelodges, we'd pack cereal and spoons for everyone in bowl sized sandwich boxes and take fresh milk and a tea towel. The milk would be stood in a bit of water in the washbasin with a wet tea towel over it overnight and, in the morning, it would be as cold and fresh as if it had come out the fridge. It meant we could have hot drinks with proper milk at bedtime as well as for breakfast rather than using those little UHT pots, and cereal with real milk in the morning and we didn't have to pay stupid prices for a bought breakfast.

hummingbird

I've been on holiday - my friend had a fridge thankfully so I've been enjoying all the benefits! Thanks everyone - also may look into freecycle.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

My fridge is displaying 12 degrees on the display and is obviously faulty as I cant get the temp down. Luckily there isnt much food in there as its the end of the week and I found the receipt and its still under warranty. However the warranty people at John Lewis cant get out until next friday (I rang them yesterday) which is rubbish (shant go there again)

I have frozen 2 tubs of water in my outside freezer to put in there to try to keep the temp low but I am not sure how to manage until next week now, has anyone got any tips? We never had a fridge when we were kids but of course had coal fires (no central heating) so the house was cooler, any tips fellow os ers?

quintwins

i would get a sealed box and set it outside with milk and butter, fruit and veg will keep inside un refridgerated and i would avoid buying any other fridge stuff unless your gonna use it that day, another option is try get a mini fridge off freecycle, or ask a neighbour if you can store a few bits there

Rosetta92

Desperate_Housewife wrote: »

My fridge is displaying 12 degrees on the display and is obviously faulty as I cant get the temp down.

I have frozen 2 tubs of water in my outside freezer to put in there to try to keep the temp low but I am not sure how to manage until next week now, has anyone got any tips?

Have you got, or can you borrow a coolbox? Get a friend or neighbour to freeze a couple of cool blocks to put in the bottom, and use it to keep milk, cheese etc cold. If you need to store any raw meat remember to put it at the bottom in case of drips.

I used to organise the food for youth group camping trips - bought frozen mince thinking it would defrost overnight in the coolbox - still frozen when I needed to cook it the next evening :rotfl:

Good luck.

Pink.

This thread has lots of advice that should help:

Living without a fridge

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

kidcat

If you haven't got a cool box try a strong plastic storage box inside a cardboard box or a bigger plastic box then add insulation, maybe hay, polystyrene, newspapers that type of thing. Use freezer blocks inside and make sure you pack the box tightly inside the bigger one. Maybe throw an old blanket over whole thing. Should keep the basics cool enough.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

thanks for all your replies. It has been ok actually and I am looking on this as an opportunity to save money tomorrow when I go shopping! Bits out of the fridge have gone into the conservatory which is cold and I have done a menu plan with a fridge free existance for a week so its ok actually